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July 29, 2013

RIP George "Boomer" Scott

George Scott, one of my favourite Red Sox players, died on Sunday in Greenville, Mississippi, at the age of 69.

In 1977, the first season of Scott's second stint with the Red Sox, the 13-year-old me sent a letter to the team asking for Scott's autograph. About six weeks later, a signed photo arrived. I still have the picture and the envelope it came in.

That season was one I remember as a great deal of fun. Scott mashed 33 taters for a homer-happy Red Sox club that won 97 games and finished in second place.

The card at left is from that summer and shows the Boomer wearing his necklace of what he claimed were second basemen's teeth.

"Between 1970 and 1977 I had spent nearly $15,000 listening to Red Sox broadcasts. In a hotel in Paris I had heard George Scott strike out in Seattle. From my father's home in London I had heard George Scott strike out in Detroit. From Palm Springs, Calif. I had listened to at least 100 complete games, attaching the phone to a playback device that amplified the sound. One could actually walk around the room without holding the receiver. One could even leave the room, walk down the corridor and into a bathroom to stare glumly into one's eyes in a mirror and still pick up the faint sound of George Scott slamming into a double play in Baltimore."